From the hunting jacket to the shirt and tie: Vox hopes to double results with a more institutional image

MadridVox begins the election campaign with the momentum of polls forecasting that it could double its results compared to 2023, just as it has already done in the last regional election cycle. From the 33 deputies of three and a half years ago to surpassing 60 with the prospect of reaching the Moncloa with the help of the PP. This is the scenario drawn by the vast majority of private polls and for which the far-right formation has been preparing the ground in recent months.

A demonstration of this is the image the party projects with its slogan and poster for November 29th. Unlike July 23rd, when Santiago Abascal appeared in a jacket with a defiant pose looking to one side, now the Vox leader presents an institutional image in a suit, shirt, and tie with a half-smile looking at the camera. "It's common sense": the phrase that accompanies him extols an image of sensibleness that associates itself with radical principles – "national priority, deregulation, and remigration" – once the far-right party has already managed to reflect them in the government program of the four autonomous regions where this same year it has formed a coalition with the Popular Party.

This Thursday, Abascal had a busy schedule, as has been usual for weeks in his intensive tour of Spain. At midday, he was in Logroño (La Rioja) and in the afternoon in Huesca (Aragon). He has been dogged by the controversial decision to cancel his interview on the program of the youtuber Jordi Wild, which clouds the start of the election campaign due to the threat of negatively impacting his result after some influencers in the far-right orbit have even explicitly asked not to vote for them because of this snub. An obstacle that the PP is already trying to exploit on social media to regain ground.

The outlook for Vox is to give the big kick-off to the election campaign this Friday evening with an event in Madrid that, due to its location, the Plaza Colón, evokes the convening power it has had during the legislature in demonstrations against the amnesty and Pedro Sánchez. In parallel, Abascal's party also has hopes of growing considerably in Catalonia, taking advantage of the slipstream of Aliança Catalana, and this Sunday the Vox leader will be in Cornellà de Llobregat after having also visited Girona and Tarragona in the same week.